Bell Micro adds 2 hard drive lines; 2 VPs

Electronic News, Oct 20, 1997

San Jose, Calif.--Bell Microproducts reported the signing of two new hard drive lines last week, and named two executives at the VP level. The new lines are Maxtor and Western Digital, and the new Bell Micro executive appointments went to Brian Clark and Minoo Mortazavi, according to Don Bell, president and CEO of Bell Micro.

Last Thursday, Bell Micro and Maxtor Corp. made public an agreement which will allow Bell Micro to distribute Maxtor's hard disk drive products. Maxtor develops, manufactures and markets information storage products for desktop computer systems. Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., it is a wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary of Hyundai Electronics America.

A day later, an agreement was reported with Western Digital Corp., another major hard drive source, for Bell Micro to distribute Western Digital's complete offering of hard disk drive products nationally, through all its sales locations.

While details of the Western Digital franchise have not yet been made public, Mr. Bell told EN that the week's second new franchise, when added to existing distributorships with IBM, Seagate and Quantum, gives Bell Micro access to the "five top hard drive suppliers."

"We are pleased to announce this new partnership with Maxtor," said Phil Roussey, senior VP of computer product marketing at Bell Micro. "Their DiamondMax drives have received impressive awards for performance, capacity and value"

Mr. Roussey also hailed the arrival of Western Digital on the Bell Micro linecard, saying, "The Western Digital product offering represents an excellent extension of our mass storage offering. Their IDE and SCSI products with Bell Microproducts' value-added capabilities will further enhance our ability to serve our customers.

Bell Micro will be distributing Maxtor's CrystalMax line of value desktop drives.

Bell Micro appointed Brian Clark senior VP of industrial sales. He will be responsible for the sales of all semiconductors, components, and computer products to OEMs. "Brian has made a strong impact on our organization since joining us recently," said Mr. Bell. "We look to Brian's continued leadership as he works with our sales team to expand our OEM distribution sales programs. Mr. Clark joined Bell Micro as VP of strategic sales. He was previously a VP at Arrow Electronics, and has more than 23 years of experience in the electronics industry. He replaces Bill Murphy, who resigned from the company to pursue personal interests.

In another executive appointment, Bell Micro said that Minoo Mortazavi has been appointed to the position of executive VP and COO of its Quadrus Manufacturing Division. She was most recently VP of site materials operations at contract manufacturer Solectron Corp. She was with Solectron for eight years, and has more than 13 years of industry experience.

"In this new position, Minoo will manage Bell's overall board and systems level value-added programs, including our systems integration and contract manufacturing activities, and will oversee the expansion of these programs," said Mr. Bell. "Her extensive experience in purchasing, materials, plant and program management, as well as all other functions in world class contact manufacturing uniquely qualify Minoo for this position. We are very pleased to have her on our team."